A Rose By Any Other Name
by Kai Naxos
Summary: Draco Malfoy finds himself when he falls for the new girl, but his entire world is turned upside down in the aftermath. I hope somebody readsreviews because I am seriously considering totally discontinuing it!
1. The Boy With The Slick Blond Hair

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

By Kai Naxos

A/N: Okay, this is the first fanfic I've written without the assistance of my "sister" Lorelei Wood. I hope it turns out well, please read & review!!! Anyroad, I'm using a few OC's in this story, which may continue on, may not. I use a lot of Latin words for names, etc, look it up to see a whole different side to the story! Oi, Disregard the fact that my "sisters" and I are totally loony (read Spinning on the High Roof Etiquette by Lorelei Wood), and enjoy the bloody fanfic!!!!

DISCLAIMER: O.K. so none of this belongs to me, except for a few OC's I've interwoven into J.K. Rowling's magical work. Don't sue me for being mad, please. I can't help it. 

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CHAPTER ONE: The Boy with the Slick Blond Hair 

            Adria Aenigma strode toward the table where the boy with the slick blond hair sat; she had just been sorted into Slytherin. Adria had spotted this mysterious bloke the first time she wandered the halls of the giant castle, and had immediately fallen in love. She was a new 5th Year student at Hogwarts. She was transferred from Pulchritude Academy, because her parents divorced and her father moved away, but forgot it all when she could peer into his beautiful blue eyes. She could feel herself connecting with him inside, and she was sure he felt the same. "_Dear God, don't let me trip or do something loony!" _Adria finally reached the table in the Great Hall. 

            Adria appeared slightly shorter than _him_, and she was full in all the right places. She had black eyes that looked like bottomless pits and straight black hair just above her shoulders that gave her a crown of mystery and darkness. She wore velvety, silky black robes with her name sewn in jade green. She outlined her eyes with black, and sliver and green glitter, surprisingly matching the Slytherin colours. Adria could see that _he _was somewhat astonished by the look on his face. "_Maybe there's hope…"_   

The only open seat at the table was right next to him_. _He stood when she approached. "Looks like we've got ourselves a new Slytherin. I'm Draco," he said. "Draco Nyasus Malfoy. And you must be The Prettiest Girl I've Ever Known. I'm guessing you go by another name?" Draco added, whispering into her ear for fear of Crabbe or Goyle overhearing.

Shocked and a bit flattered, Adria answered, "Adria. Adria Faye Aenigma."

"I hope are enjoying this as much as I am, Adria," Draco said, just loud enough for her to hear. Without thinking, she slid her seat as close to him as possible. Then, the dinner appeared on the once empty plates. All the students began eating, and the students became twice as loud as before. But Draco and Adria never said a word. All through the meal they found themselves staring at the other's eyes, Adria at Draco's steel blue pools, Draco at Adria's jet-black abysmal depths. After a while, dinner was over, and it was time for dessert. Loads of ice creams and chocolates and peppermint humbugs appeared on the tables. The vibes between Draco & Adria grew, and they ended up holding hands under the table. Both were silent, and Adria was careful to choose the same candies as Draco. 

A/N: Are you getting scared now? Okay, fine, I will stop dinner and take you to the weekend. Yes, she transferred on a Friday. P.S.  I must warn you: I tend to be obsessive with black eyeliner. Moving on!

            Surprisingly, Adria slept extravagantly well that night, and it probably had something to do with the fact that Draco was just across the dungeon, in the boys' dormitories. She had pleasant dreams about all the time she would be spending around Draco at her new school, instead of her previous nightmares about her parents' divorce, and murder, and fear. She woke early the following morning, before anyone else in the dorms. She quietly dressed, and lined her eyes thickly in black. "_I wonder if I should go wake my Draco," _she thought. 

            Adria tiptoed carefully across the common room and into the boys' dorms. Finding Draco's bunk, she paused a moment to admire him in his sleep. She placed her palm over his mouth and whispered in his ear.

            "Draco? Draco, get up. It's Adria. Come on now!" she whispered. He woke, surprised at first, but seemed happy to see Adria.      

            "What is it, love?" he asked. "Is something the matter?"

            "No, of course not, it's just… Nobody else is up and I'm feeling a bit lonely." She said to him with fake despair, admiring his six pack as he rose out of bed. 

            "Run along to the common room, I'll be dressed in a moment." Draco said quietly as to not disturb anyone. Adria left the dormitory and stepped out into the common room. It was very early, and still quite a bit dark. She found a chair that had room for two and sat. After a while, Draco emerged from the dorms. 

            "Good morning, angel," he said, pausing to stretch, then taking a seat next to her. They hugged, and Adria felt very comfortable in his strong, warm embrace. 

            "Draco, it's Saturday. We've got no classes. What are we going to do?" she asked him, yawning lightly. There was no such thing as a weekend at Pulchritude, where everything was definitely harder than at Hogwarts. "I never really had a weekend at Pulchritude, and we were never allowed to play Quidditch. I never learned how to properly ride my broomstick."

            "You're kidding. No Quidditch?" Draco seemed confused. 

            "Nope. And I've even got a TrogDor 3000 that I never used." Adria added. 

            "Blimey! That's the same type of broomstick I've got! My father bought it for me as soon as they released it." Draco gloated. He suggested that they get their brooms and head out to the Pitch. 

            "The what now?" Adria asked, not knowing much about Quidditch.

            "The playing field, love." Draco chuckled. Hand in hand, they walked out to the Quidditch Pitch. The air was a bit cold, and the dew shone on the grass with the first lights of dawn. 

            Draco and Adria spent an hour and a half out on the Pitch. Adria had picked up all the rules of Quidditch, and, as it turned out, was a much better flier than Draco. He didn't like the idea, so he suggested they go get some breakfast. They put their TrogDor 3000's away and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting in their usual places at the Slytherin table. They were about to ask Draco what was going on, but he gave them both an evil glare and they bit their tongues. 

            Adria and Draco pleasantly ate their breakfast, holding hands under the table. It was a dream come true for the both of them. But what Draco didn't know was that it was a dream come true for a certain three Gryffindors, and a nightmare for his father…

A/N:  You'll notice a lot of the story is in dialogue. I haven't exactly formulated a plot line, so I'm just playing it by ear as if it were real. I hope all the quotey-thingys don't get you as miffed as they do me.

*~*~*~*I will have the next chapters up soon, I promise! Please review! Draco I love you!*~*~*~*****


	2. Like Father, Like Son

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**CHAPTER TWO: Like Father, Like Son**

A/N: A bit of time passes, and now it is Christmas. Draco and Adria stay at Hogwarts over the holidays, and now enters the wrath of Lucius Malfoy…

            Wind whistled outside, throwing snow and ice everywhere at Hogwarts. Adria and Draco had both chosen to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. They had recently been snogging in one of the Common Room chairs, like the second day Adria had spent at Hogwarts, and it was time to go to breakfast. Draco rose.

"Shall I escort the beautiful miss to breakfast?" he asked, arm outstretched. Adria smiled and stood. Draco placed his muscular arm around her, and they trotted off to the Great Hall to enjoy breakfast.

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Crabbe rolled up his finished parchment, and grunted at Goyle to follow him. They went to the Owlery, and found a strong-looking school owl. Crabbe tied the parchment to its leg.

"Take this to Lucius Malfoy," Goyle whispered to the owl. He pulled a bit of toast from his pocket and fed it to the tawny owl, while Crabbe paced back and forth across the Owlery. 

"You don't suppose it'll, you know, _bother _Mr. Malfoy that we send this to him, do you?" Crabbe asked Goyle in a hushed voice. 

"Shut up Crabbe, you don't know what you're talking about. You know all the Malfoys love 'pleasant news.'" Goyle replied, obviously not worried at all. 

"Fine then. Off you go." Crabbe instructed the owl as he released it into the black night sky.

They headed back to the Slytherin dungeons, failing an attempt to act as conspicuous as possible. Neither one of them wanted Draco to know about the letter they'd just sent to his father.

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            After their breakfast, Adria and Draco decided to take a stroll about the grounds. They walked all the way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Draco playfully pulled Adria into a little clearing in the trees. They snogged for a bit, and cuddled up near a portable fire Draco had conjured for them. They enjoyed the weather, since the snow fall had slowed. Later, they returned to the castle. They had lunch together in the near-empty Great Hall. They ate warm stew and rolls, and each had a peppermint humbug afterwards. Their holidays together seemed to be going quite well, especially with the increased privacy because of the holiday. Adria and Draco seemed to be soul mates, that is, if either of them possessed a proper soul.

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            It was Christmas morning, and Draco had taken the trouble to wake up before Adria did. He took the present he'd gotten her from his trunk, snuck into her dorm, and placed it in her pile of presents. He noticed she had nearly as many as he did, which was very rare because, as everybody knew, his father was quite rich. 

            Looking at his watch, Draco realized it was only four in the morning, and Adria wouldn't be waking up until nearer to seven. He decided to go back to his bunk for a while and rest a bit more. He fell back into a deep sleep.

            _Draco was in his room in the Malfoy mansion. He could hear his father, Lucius, and his mother, Narcissa, fighting… again. At first, he thought nothing of it, because they quarreled all the time. But then there was the screaming. Then Narcissa, shrieking in pain. The innocent Draco ran to the living room to see what was going on. His father had his mother by the throat, choking her. Draco screamed, "MUMMY! Daddy, don't!' and Lucius realized Draco was watching. "Go back to your room, now, boy. Now!" he yelled. Draco hid behind a chair and watched in horror as his father began to punch and beat his mummy. Blood began flowing from her nose and mouth. Lucius gave her two great blows to the stomach, and she started coughing up more blood. "Clean that [edited] blood up off my floors, now, woman!" Lucius screamed at Narcissa, threatening to break every bone in her body if she didn't obey him at once. By this time, little Draco was crying, but he wasn't heard over Lucius's yelling and Narcissa's loud shrieks. Draco could take no more of this. He snuck to his room and cried; he cried until no more tears would come. Then his father came stomping down the hallway. "I thought I told you to stay in your room!" he roared, accenting each syllable with a slap to the behind. "Don't hurt my mummy like that!" Draco cried, and Lucius threw him to the other side of the room. "DON'T EVER, EVER TALK BACK TO ME, DRACO NYASUS MALFOY!" he exploded, and gave Draco a near-fatal punch in the chest. _

And then Draco woke up, tears on his cheeks, from the terrible flashback of his highly abusive father he'd just had. Looking at his watch, he realized it was 6:30. He dressed, and went to the bathroom to wash the tears away; hopefully the cold water would carry the pain with it. He reminded himself that his beautiful Adria would wake soon, and couldn't help but give a bit of a smile. 

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After opening their presents, Draco and Adria went, hand in hand, to the Great Hall for breakfast. A single black owl flew in at post time, and dropped a black envelope with scarlet edges on Draco's plate.

"What's that, Draco, baby?" Adria asked him. 

"I'm not sure, but it's sure to be something pleasant since you're here to open it with me." Draco smiled. He immediately recognized the seal on the back of the envelope. '_I wonder what father would want, sending me a peculiar letter on Christmas,' _Draco thought. He pulled the seal open, and was immediately taken aback by his father's screaming voice, only twenty times louder than it should have been. 

"God [edited] it, Draco!!!! What in the world are you doing, wasting all your time on some stupid prat of a girl from Pulchritude?!!!?! Blithering idiot!!!! I told you, you [edited] well better be careful choosing who your friends are!!!!! And what about Crabbe and Goyle?!!!???! You've completely abandoned the two!!!! I will be stopping by the school soon for business, and you and I will be having a little chat!!!!!!!!!!!! And if you know what's good for you, you'll leave that stupid git girl of yours behind!!!!!!!!! You are all too lucky you and that girl can only hear this Black Howler, because if anyone, ANYONE heard about you and your [edited] nonsense, the Malfoy family name would be destroyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you understand me?!!!??? DESTROYED!!!!!!!!!"

Adria, in an attempt to cheer Draco up a bit, said, "At least you and I are the only ones who heard that. I'm thankful for whoever invented the Black Howler." Clearly, it didn't help Draco. He got up, breakfast half eaten, and stormed off to the Slytherin Common Room.

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About five minutes later, Adria decided to return to the dungeons to check on Draco. She did all she could to keep her courage up; it was hard to believe that none of the other students in the Great Hall had heard what Lucius Malfoy had to say. She arrived at the Common Room, and slowly entered. After a bit of silence in which Draco didn't notice her standing there, she spoke.

"Draco, love, everything's going to be all right. I know it is. We've got each other, and that's all we need." She said in a pleading tone of voice. 

"You don't understand." Draco grouched at her. "My father doesn't get angry. He gets vicious." He sat in a chair with his back to Adria, staring intently at the flames in the fireplace. 

"I'm sure he doesn't mean you any harm," Adria insisted, sitting on his lap.

"Get off me!" Draco insisted sternly, and she promptly jumped up. "What is wrong with you? Don't you understand? All my father ever cares about is earning a good name for himself! He never stopped once to think about me! And what do you do? You stand there like a Pixie trying to tell me it'll all be all right!" Draco yelled at her, his volume rising with every sentence. 

"I was only trying to help because I love you, Draco," Adria whimpered.

"Don't give me that [edited], stupid girl!!!" Draco screamed, instinctively slapping Adria hard across the face. Adria stood there a moment, face frozen in a look like she'd just been stabbed in the stomach by the one she trusted most. Eventually, a single tear found its way down her cheek, and she stepped backwards away from Draco, turned, and slipped into the girls' dormitory.They


	3. The Face in the Mirror

A/N: The pace picks up a bit now, so dig in! It's a lot longer than the first two chapters, and I'm hoping to get some more reviews before starting chapter four. So read it, review it, and tell me what you think. Our dearest Luci is coming up to the castle, and Draco is willing to do anything to keep him from hurting Adria. You shall see. P.S. My thanks to Lorelei Wood for being my beta-reader and Harry Potter Reference Library to Anything I Need. 

DISCLAIMER: I do not own this Magical World. J.K. Rowling does, and we thank her for her work. Any road, please don't sue me for making up stories about my love, Draco, and the rest of it all. Onward!  

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CHAPTER THREE: The Face In The Mirror 

Neither Adria nor Draco ate lunch or dinner. Neither could move much less speak. Draco was busy beating himself up inside for what he had done to his sweet Adria, and was scared to death of his father's upcoming visit to the castle. Adria was completely petrified by the fact that her true love had turned on her. "_Or did he…" she thought._

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_"I'm scared out of my wits about Father coming. He's going to beat me. Worse, he's going to kill me. Still worse, he's going to hurt Adria. Dear Lord, what the hell am I going to do? He'll beat me like he did my mum, and nobody will dare challenge him about it. He's such a prat. Why did he have to raise me in the image of himself? That's why I bloody went and hit Adria. Why in hell did I have to be born, anyway? Father probably forced Mum to bonk him!!! The thick-headed git! And now he's going to come here and beat the [edited] out of me. God, I'm so scared. What in bloody hell am I going to go? And how am I to protect Adria if I'm busy getting beat to a pulp? Dear Lord, help me!"_

            __

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It was time for dinner, and all the students that had stayed for the holidays went off to the Great Hall. Except for Adria and Draco. Adria had long since stayed in the girls' dormitories, but hadn't bothered to lock herself in. She had thrown things everywhere from rage and her broomstick lay broken on the floor near the doorway. Draco decided that the both of them had suffered long enough without each other, and he wanted to go apologise to Adria. At the same time, Adria had the exact same thought. He headed to the dormitory, trying desperately to find the right words. Draco opened the door, tripped over the broomstick, and landed face first on top of Adria. Now their faces were inches apart; their warm bodies pressing against one another. Neither could say anything. They continued like this, on the floor, for a few minutes. Draco began running his fingers through her long, black hair. Finally, he thrust himself passionately toward her, and pulled her into a long, sorrowful kiss. She kissed back, and nibbled tenderly on his bottom lip. After their long, deep kiss, still lying on the floor, Draco said, "I'm so sorry, I never…" but Adria cut him off by pulling his face to hers and kissing him again, with the same fervent passion he had given her. They both wanted to stay like this forevermore. For even lying there in a pile of broken dreams and troubled emotions, it was heaven.

             Draco and Adria had many apologies sitting together in the Slytherin dungeons. They put a band-aid on their torn relationship, and now all they could do was sit. Sit and wait for the arrival of their ultimate antagonist. Lucius Malfoy. As the light faded outside, so did the colour of Draco's face. Adria gingerly took hold of his hand and realised he was shivering violently. 

            "I don't know what to say, Draco, my love," Adria said. She tried her best to sound as soothing as possible, because even though she didn't know why, she knew Draco was in danger. 

            "I… I… Come here," Draco stuttered in a weak, scared voice. Adria slowly got up from her seat and sat down next to Draco. "You're not going to believe this, I mean, I know I shouldn't be telling you this, but…"

            "What is it, Draco?" Adria asked, the concern in her voice rising a bit.

            "My… my father, he… beats me. And my mum. It's so horrible. The day, I hit you; I'd had a flashback… from… from when I was little. My mum… coughing up blood, father throwing… throwing me across the room and… and punching me in the, the chest, and…" Draco explained between wails and sobs. Adria had never seen Draco cry before. 

            Adria threw her arms around Draco in an effort to comfort him. Rocking him back and forth, she said, "It'll all be okay, Draco, I promise it will. I love you, and love can't be broken, remember that."

"You don't understand," Draco said, "he'll beat me. He'll break every bone in my body."

            "But the one thing he can't break is our love for each other." Adria made a null attempt to reassure him. 

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 That night, Draco stayed with Adria in the girls' dormitories, provided none of the other Slytherin girls had stayed. He took the bunk next to Adria's. Neither of them thought it would be easy, so Adria took out a Sleeping Draught she had prepared for times like this. She took a sip and handed the phial to Draco. Instantly, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Draco put the phial around his neck on a chain, leaving a cold feeling on his bare chest, but didn't take any potion. 

After waiting a few hours to make sure Adria was sound asleep, he tiptoed to the boys' dormitories and took something from his trunk. Then, he snuck back into the girls' dorms. He took a quill and parchment and wrote a quick note and placed it on the bunk where he had slept. He stroked Adria's cheek, and tasted her lips as she slept. He had to pull away. Teary-eyed, he turned on his heel and strode off to the lavatory behind the dorms.

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            Adria suddenly awoke with the feeling that something was wrong. She turned over to Draco's bunk and realised he was not there. In his place was a roll of parchment.  Apprehensively, she reached over to where Draco was supposed to be laying, picked up the note, and read:

_To my dearest Adria,_

_            I hope with great passion that you can forgive me for all the things I have ever done. I never ever meant to hurt you, and knowing I did kills me. You know I love you above all, and I do everything I can to make sure you are safe and happy, no matter what the expense. I am giving my life to make sure that you are happy. I love you more than anything else, and I hope my decision will lead you to a new life. I know that suicide will get me away from Father, and it will also keep him from hurting you. I just want you to know that I love you, and I always will. I give you my best wishes in your life and hope that you can carry on without me. Do me a favour and spill my cold blood all over the carpeting in Father's mansion, and tell him how much I hate him. Tell him I hate him so bad that I hope he gets his soul sucked out by dementors in Azkaban. But I hope you always remember that I love you. Trust in my self-righteous suicide. _

_                                                                                                Love always and forevermore,_

_D_**_raco_**_N_**_yasus_**_M_**_alfoy_**

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A single tear raced down Adria's cheek. She grabbed her wand and rushed instinctively toward the lavatory (she had thought of committing suicide here before), paying no attention at all to the fact that she was scantily dressed, in pyjamas. 

            "Draco?" she called, running around frantically to find her love. She rushed over to the showers, pulling back curtain after curtain, until she found him. When she saw Draco hanging there lifelessly, suspended in midair by the belt around his neck, her heart fell. Quick to think on her feet, she used her wand.

            "_Accio switchblade_!" Adria cried, summoning her switchblade knife with all her concentration. Pausing for a moment, she flicked the blade and stared at it. Shaking herself out of the moment, she ran over to the shower, climbed up, and cut Draco down. Adria caught her love in her arms and felt for a pulse. "_Oh my God, Draco, please don't die, I love you!"_ she thought. After a moment, she felt a weak pulse returning to his veins. "Yes, that's right, Draco, hang in there! I won't let Lucius hurt you, I promise!" she said to him.

            "_Mobilicorpus_!" she levitated his body up, and rushed him off to the Hospital Wing. "MADAME POMFREY?? MADAME POMFREY HELP ME! ITS DRACO HE… HE'S… HELP!!!" she screamed. Madame Pomfrey came running out in a pink bathrobe, half asleep. "Wake up, Madame Pomfrey!!! You've got to help Draco!" Adria pleaded, letting Draco drop to an empty bed and running over to her.

            "Calm down, Aenigma. What happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

            "Draco, he… he tried to… to kill himself, he was going to hang himself with his… his belt, oh my God, Madame Pomfrey, you have to help him!" Adria sputtered between sobs. She realised she still had the switchblade knife in her left hand. "I, I cut him down with my switchblade, oh dear God I'm so scared…" she cried. 

            "Look dear, go over there to the bathroom and calm down while I get him stable," Madame Pomfrey said, bustling around the bed trying to save the near lifeless Draco. Adria went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her tear-streaked face. _"It's going to be fine, Madame Pomfrey will take care of him. Come on now, pull yourself together,"_ she thought to herself. Madame Pomfrey asked her to wait in the hall for a bit, assuring her he would be fine. Five minutes later, Madame Pomfrey opened the door.

            "Adria, honey, I'm afraid…" she began.

            "What is it? Is he all right? Is he gone?" Adria asked hurriedly.

            Sitting beside Adria on the bench in the hall, she said, "Adria, honey, I'm afraid he's still unconscious, but he will be alright. He can probably hear you if you talk to him, but he can't talk back. You may go visit him now, only because you were so hysterical bringing him in."

            "Do you mean he's, he's alive? I found him in time?" Adria said, the colour returning to her white cheeks.

            "I think he'll be doing fine after a few days, maybe a week." Madame Pomfrey said soothingly. Adria jumped up and rushed towards Draco's bed. After the matron left, she bent over and kissed him on the cheek. She pulled a chair next to his bed and took his hand in her own.

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            "You know, Draco, love, sometimes I thought about committing suicide with this knife, but I never dreamt I'd be saving you from your own suicide with it." She began, still holding the switchblade. "I'd been through a lot, but never enough to actually do it. I didn't quite think you'd been through a real lot yourself. I know you have a lot of stress with your father and all, and I guess now I'm starting to understand it a bit more. Nobody understood you. Your father tried to turn you into the image of him, but you had the one thing that broke you free. You had love. And now, because of me, he's going to come here, and I don't know what will happen to you. You say he will break all the bones in your beautiful body, and I don't think I could bear that, I really couldn't. I hate to see you hurt." Adria continued, stroking Draco's pale cheek, warm, salty tears streaming down her face. She occasionally stopped to run her fingers through his long blond hair. "You know, I fell in love with you the first time I laid eyes upon you. Your slick blond hair, your beautiful, beautiful blue eyes. And that cute little smirk." Adria sighed, and kept talking to Draco. "But I felt like I could see beyond the outside, you know? I felt like, somehow, we were connected. We've spent so much time together, but I felt like, on that day, that I knew as much about you as I do now. We were meant for each other, Draco, my love. My sweet, sweet love." Adria paused for a moment to wipe tears from her face, "You can't leave me, Draco. I love you too much. You just can't leave me. We have such great love between us; I just wouldn't be able to take it. I really wouldn't. Besides, I won't let your father hurt you. I won't. I would do anything to keep him away from you. I would give my life to get that man away from you. I just can't let you die, Draco. I love you. Don't you understand? I love you! You can't die! You can't leave me, you just can't!" Adria cried, and laid her head on Draco's barely moving chest.

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"Adria, dear?" Madame Pomfrey called for her. 

            "Yes?" Adria stood and responded.

            "Normal policy would be to send you back to bed, but since this is so traumatic, and since you look a bit wilted yourself, I will allow you to spend the rest of the night here. But, you must allow me to take care of you." Madame Pomfrey informed Adria with a gentle smile.

            "You are right, I do feel a bit… a bit… weak" Adria said, and fainted, falling to the floor. 

            Madame Pomfrey put Adria into the bed next to Draco's. She had secretly been listening to what Adria had to say, as with some of the more serious cases, and had automatically decided to deny Lucius any visiting rights. She took the switchblade knife away, as well. She would take matters to Professor Dumbledore first thing in the morning.

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            Poppy Pomfrey walked up to Professor Dumbledore's office. "Cinnamon Imperials" she exclaimed to the stone gargoyle. It leapt aside, allowing her to step onto the revolving spiral staircase. Upon reaching the office, she spoke. "Albus?" she said.

            Albus Dumbledore looked up from his desk. "Yes? Oh, hullo Poppy! Good morning!" he exclaimed to her cheerily. 

            "Albus, I can't allow Lucius Malfoy to see Draco," Poppy Pomfrey explained to him. "Draco's attempted suicide, and I sort of heard from Adria Aenigma that Lucius is abusive, and plans to pay Draco a visit with bad intentions." 

            "Oh dear! Our Draco Malfoy attempted suicide? I wouldn't doubt Lucius being abusive, but Draco never seemed to be like that… He's alright, isn't he?" Dumbledore said, surprised yet serious.

            "He and Adria are both in the Hospital Wing. He tried to hang himself, and Adria found him and cut him down. I think Draco's still unconscious, and Adria was a bit shaken up. She fainted last night, so I kept her. I knew you'd understand." Poppy answered.

            "That's good." Dumbledore said, a bit of relief in his voice.

            "Listen, Albus, you can't let Lucius come see him. He's wounded enough as it is. And Lucius being as abusive as he is, if we let him in, we could lose Draco. Please, Albus, it's only reasonable!" Poppy pleaded.

            "I am in full agreement with you that he should not be allowed to visit Draco. The hard part will be convincing him of that." Dumbledore said, obviously worried again. "What can we do to keep him away?"

            "Adria had said something about being here on official business. Maybe you should contact the Ministry of Magic?" Poppy suggested.

            "I will contact the Ministry at once. In the meantime, I believe you've got two patients in need of your care." Albus Dumbledore said, dismissing Madame Pomfrey.

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            Adria awoke to find that Madame Pomfrey was going to speak with Professor Dumbledore. She guessed it would be awhile until she returned. Adria knew what would happen.

            After she was sure Madame Pomfrey was gone, Adria looked over toward Draco's bed. "Are you awake, Draco?" she pleadingly asked. Seeing that he was clearly still unconscious, she began to worry. _"What if he never comes around? What if he is caught forever on the fine line between life and death? What if he is dead but his body is just alive?"_ Adria thought. She remembered that Draco still had the phial of Sleeping Draught around his neck. She crept over to his bed and took the phial from the chain. She kissed his pale lips, and returned to her bed. She brought the phial up to her lips. "If you must die, Draco, my love, I'm coming with you," she whispered, and swallowed the whole phial of Sleeping Draught. Seconds later, she had lost her own consciousness. She lie there, phial clutched in her hand, her head placed as if she was looking, still, at her life, her love, her Draco.

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            Madame Pomfrey returned to the Hospital Wing. Seeing that Adria was asleep, (or so she thought), she went over to Draco to check on him. She saw that he was still out cold, and decided to check his vital signs. He had gone into a coma, a vegetative state. His chances of living were slipping away quickly. _"Oh dear, stay with us, Draco. Although I hope you are still like this when Lucius arrives," she thought to herself. _

            Moving over to Adria's bed, Madame Pomfrey tried to wake her. She realised Adria had fallen into a coma as well, but not as severe as poor Draco, whom Adria fancied. _"I wonder why she's gone into a coma," _she thought. Then, she noticed the empty phial clasped in her motionless hand. "What's this?" she thought aloud, and carefully removed the phial from her grip. Knowing Professor Snape would be able to identify the potion better than her, she went to her office and took a jar of Floo Powder down from the shelf. She threw a bit into the flames at the fireplace, stepped in, and said, "Professor Snape's office!" 

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            Madame Pomfrey appeared in Severus Snape's fireplace in his office. Professor Snape looked up. "Can I help you, Poppy?" he grunted. 

            "I need you to come with me to the Hospital Wing, Severus. Quickly!" she said. 

            "What is it?" Snape asked, rising from his seat.

            "Don't ask questions, let's go!" she said hurriedly, "You first." She threw a handful of Floo Powder into the fireplace, and motioned for the Potions Master to step in. After he had gone, she used a bit herself, and was soon back in the Hospital Wing with Adria and Draco.

            "What kind of nonsense…. What in the world happened to Malfoy?" Snape exclaimed, interrupting himself.

            "Never mind that, just tell me what this potion is! Hurry, Severus, it's life or death!!" she practically screamed at the baffled professor. He brought the phial up to his nose and smelled of it. Then, he took a bit on the end of his finger and tasted it.

            "It's a Sleeping Draught; A strong one, mind you. Anybody who took this would be unconscious in no time at all. Too much of this would put you in a coma, possibly fatal." Professor Snape sneered to the matron, "Where did you get this, anyway?"

            "Thank you, professor. I found the phial in the Aenigma girl's hand. Obviously she took the whole phial because she's in one hell of a coma." Madame Pomfrey explained.

            "What about Draco? And what are those red marks all over the boy's neck?" Snape said, obviously more concerned with Draco than with Adria.

            "He tried to kill himself, the poor bloke. Hung himself with a belt in the shower. Adria found him and cut him down. She came in here looking as pale-blue as Draco did, and I took her in. She fainted last night, and now the both of them are in terrible comas. She brought him in here unconscious, using a _Mobilicorpus charm, and it all went downhill from there." Madame Pomfrey said, with a faint look of disappointment splotched on her worried face. _

            "I will return to my office now, to make the Antidote. I'll get it to you as soon as it's finished." Professor Snape said. He used Floo Powder to go back to his office and began working on the potion at once. 

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Severus Snape stepped out of the fireplace in the Hospital Wing, and called to Madame Pomfrey. She ran to him at once. 

            "You've completed the antidote, Severus?" she asked. Snape pulled a phial from a pocket in his cloak and handed it to the matron. 

            "I've also made a potion that could help bring Draco back into consciousness, or at least out of his coma," the potions professor said, handing Madame Pomfrey another phial; this one filled with a liquid of a slightly darker colour. 

            "Thank you very much, Professor Snape. I'm thankful that Hogwarts has such a talented Potions Master. I will let you know if I need anything else," Pomfrey said, bidding Snape farewell. Immediately after he left, she proceeded to administer the two Antidotes. She gave Draco the lighter coloured liquid, and Adria the darker one. Much to Madame Pomfrey's surprise, Adria began to wake up immediately. Draco still lay there.

            "Am I alive? Draco? Where is he?" Adria asked frantically, although she was half asleep. 

            "I'm glad you're awake. But why didn't Draco wake up as well?" the matron said with a puzzled look on her face. "Oh no! I've given you the potion that was for Draco, and Draco your Sleeping Draught Antidote. Dear me!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed, realizing the terrible mistake she's just made.

            Adria began to get up, but Madame Pomfrey wouldn't allow it. "You lie right back down on that bed, young lady, and sit tight while I check on Draco," she insisted. She moved to Draco's bed and began checking vital signs. "Well, Adria, dear, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, Draco is no longer in a coma, and neither are you. The bad news is, the Antidote backfired, and he's gone unconscious again. I'm afraid he'll be staying this way for a while, as well. How do you feel?" she explained.

            "My head hurts a bit, and I feel like I've missed out on something. I don't think I will try to get up again. I, I think I might black out. What's going on, anyway?" Adria said slowly, rubbing her forehead.

            "I'm going to keep you longer. You just lie down and rest, and I'll explain everything in a bit, after you're feeling better." Madame Pomfrey said, handing Adria a glass of water. She drank deeply from the water, set the glass on her bedside table, and allowed herself to fall back onto the pillow. Sleep beckoned to her, and in no time she was fast asleep.

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            Adria again tried to coax Draco from his unconsciousness, but only ended up exhausting herself. She decided to go to the lavatory and wash her face in the sink, and used the one in the back of the Hospital Wing. Adria approached the sink, and looked in the mirror. Suddenly, she fainted and fell, hitting her head on the sink on the way down.

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            Madame Pomfrey hoped with all her might that Lucius Malfoy wouldn't show up that day, and, to the advantage of everyone, he didn't. She knew Draco would come around soon, and she needed to keep him away from Draco even after he regained consciousness. _"But how?" _she thought to herself. _"I will have Albus give orders to Professor Snape to make a Sleeping Draught strong enough to put Draco back into a coma for a bit… the Draught of Living Death, maybe. Then, when he shows up, I will give the potion to Draco, hopefully knocking him out before Lucius suspects any funny business. You are a genius, woman!"_ Madame Pomfrey spent that night thinking up a backup plan for everything that could possibly go wrong with Lucius and Draco.

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            Madame Pomfrey left Professor Snape's office with a large phial filled with purple liquid. Upon returning to the Hospital Wing, she noticed that Draco was fully conscious, and sat next to Adria's bed, staring at her unconscious body. 

            "Draco, its very good to see you up and about. You had Adria and I scared that we'd lost you. How do you feel?" Madame Pomfrey said cheerily. 

            Draco, who was slightly startled, replied. "I feel quite alright, thank you. But what's wrong with Adria?"  

            "She'd taken quite a bit of a shock when she brought you in here, and has been weak ever since. She's been drifting in and out of consciousness. I found her unconscious on the floor in the lavatory with a bruise on her head. She was very concerned about you, you know. Adria loves you quite a bit," the matron explained to Draco.

            "How can I wake her?" Draco asked, after an awkward silence. 

            "You might try talking to her a bit. She talked to you nearly the whole time you were out. Could you hear her at all?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

            "I did, but I'm not sure I remember everything she said. And there was a long time that she didn't talk to me at all." He said to her, a bit puzzled.

            "I had a bit of a mix-up with Professor Snape's Antidotes, and the both of you ended up in comas." she said. "I'll leave you two alone for a bit, then." She went to her office to find a clever place to put the potion, where it'd be quickly accessible. 

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             As soon as the matron left, Draco began to speak, "Adria, my love, it's Draco. I've woken only to find you out cold. Please wake up, angel. I miss you so badly. It was right stupid of me to… do what I did, I know, but it's okay now. Please wake up." He took her hand, and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you, more than ever right now. I need you to get up. Please angel, do it for me." He pleaded to her. Suddenly, he felt her hand squeeze his, and her eyes began to open. "That's it, love, come on, get up now," he told her. 

            Seeing that Draco was alive and well, Adria rose and threw her arms around him. She was safe now that she was with her Draco. But then, both of them came to a sad realisation.

"Your father," Adria said, "what about your father? Where's Madame Pomfrey?" 

            "I'm right here, dears. Listen, everything will be okay. Professor Snape has prepared the Draught of Living Death for me. When I give it to you, you will immediately return to a vegetative state. You will appear dead. I'm having Professor Snape make the Antidote as we speak. You don't have to worry about your father hurting you, Draco. Headmaster Dumbledore won't allow it. The Sleeping Draught is merely a backup plan," she said to them.

            "But what about Adria? I'm sure Father isn't very pleased with her, either. You can't let him see Adria!" Draco exclaimed to her.

            "Not to worry. I've had Snape prepare another Sleeping Draught for Miss Aenigma," Madame Pomfrey smiled, proud of herself for thinking ahead. "I'm going to keep you both here, not only because I want you here if and when Lucius arrives, but because you're but still a bit weak, as well."

            After Madame Pomfrey left, Adria decided to tell Draco why she had passed out. "I went to the lavatory to wash my face in the sink, and I saw the most peculiar image in the mirror…" she began.

            "What did you see?" Draco asked, his voice showing apparent concern.

            "It was your father, standing behind me with his wand drawn, as if to… to curse me or something. I don't know, it's all very confusing." She explained, rubbing her forehead as if she had a headache.

            "Well, Dumbledore is going to take care of us. Didn't you hear Madame Pomfrey? Everything is going to be alright." Draco said, trying to soothe her and pushing her hair away from her face.

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            Albus Dumbledore's head appeared in Poppy Pomfrey's fireplace, in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. "Poppy, Lucius has arrived against my orders. I believe he is coming up my stairs as we speak. You know what to do. Now, if you'll excuse me…" his head said, and disappeared. Madame Pomfrey obviously knew exactly what he was talking about because she got to work at once.

            "Adria? Draco? Mr. Malfoy is here. Both of you, climb into your beds and I'll give you the potions." She said with a hurrying tone of voice. Adria and Draco were both startled, but for fear of their lives, got into bed at once. The matron ran over to them and distributed the Draught of Living Death to Draco and the Sleeping Draught to Adria, making sure she'd not got it confused with the Antidote beforehand. Both of them had slipped into comas the minute the potion had slid down their throats. "Good luck," Madame Pomfrey whispered to them. She returned to her office to make it seem as if nothing peculiar had happened.

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            "If we are through here, Albus, I wish to see my son." Lucius Malfoy said to the Headmaster.

            "Well, Lucius, sir, I'm afraid he cannot be disturbed... He has recently been in the Hospital Wing under the care of Poppy Pomfrey." Albus Dumbledore replied calmly.

            "The Hospital Wing? What's wrong with him? I demand to speak to him at once!" Lucius roared, slamming his fist on the desk, "I am going to see him and you cannot stop me!" He turned and rushed off to the Hospital Wing.

            "Madame Pomfrey? I demand to see my son! Where is he? I need to…" Lucius said, but stopped mid-sentence when he saw Draco lying there in the bed, unconscious. 

            Lucius could take no more. "WHAT IN THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SON??? DEAR GOD!!! I DEMAND YOU TO MAKE HIM WELL THIS INSTANT!!! DRACO??" He ran over to Draco's bed and started shaking him in an effort to wake him. 

            "He's been in a coma for a long time, Lucius, there's nothing I can do." Madame Pomfrey tried to stay calm. Lucius all of a sudden got very quiet, and asked her, "Is he… is my son… dead?"  

            Madame Pomfrey played along in an effort to get him to leave. "I'm afraid so, Mr. Malfoy. I did everything I could, but I think we've lost him. I'm so, so very sorry," she said soothingly.

            "No! It can't be! You have to… to bring him back!" Lucius's voice rose with every word. He summoned forward all his concentration, drew his wand, and brought forward a reviving charm for Draco.

            _"ENNERVATE!" Lucius screamed at his son's seemingly dead body. Draco didn't move a muscle. At this point, Lucius Malfoy fell to his knees and broke down into tears, like nobody had ever seen. He realised that Adria was lying there in the bed next to his._

            "You!! You stupid, stupid girl! You did this to my son! You will pay!!!" he rose to his feet, once again drawing his wand, and screamed, _"CRUCIO" at Adria's limp body. Madame Pomfrey gasped, as Adria began to scream. She screamed so loud it filled every corridor and classroom in the school. Professors McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Flitwick rushed into the Hospital Wing, all three of them taken aback by the Unforgivable Curse Lucius Malfoy had just performed on a Hogwarts student. _

            Minerva McGonagall drew her wand, pointed it at Malfoy, and said _"Expelliarmus!" She took his wand from him in order to stop Adria from screaming in pain from the curse. After she had his wand, she approached him. "Lucius, are you aware that you will go to Azkaban for performing the Cruciatus Curse on Miss Aenigma?" _

            "Minerva, I… I didn't mean… SHE DID THIS TO DRACO! SHE KILLED MY SON! SHE DESERVED IT!" he roared. McGonagall looked to Professor Dumbledore, and he went to go contact the Ministry of Magic. 

            Lucius ran over to Adria's bed to try to strangle her, but McGonagall had him in a body bind before he got there. He fell to the floor with a _thud. Then, all attention turned to Adria, who'd been saying, "I've, I've never been in so much pain in my life, I think I'm going to be sick…" since McGonagall had stopped Lucius Malfoy from cursing her. _

            "Adria, are you all right?" Professor Flitwick asked. "Lucius Malfoy just performed the Cruciatus Curse on you." 

            "I know, and curse him for that! But what about the…" Adria began, but she stopped herself, not wanting Lucius to know that Draco was still alive. "Yes, I think I'm alright," she sighed. 


	4. Will She Understand?

A/N:  Yes, I know, it's been a dreadfully long time since I last updated. I got so tied up in school, marching band, and that one Puerto Rican kid (sorry Lorelei) that I had no time to write. Not to mention the fact that my laptop crashed and I had to send it off for repair. Anyroad, I've had this and Chapter 5 written for a long time now, and I could've sworn I'd already updated. My apologies.

DISCLAIMER: Writing another disclaimer: The Harry Potter book series and all of its characters and aspects belong in whole to a Ms. J.K. Rowling… who killed off Padfoot… *cries*

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**CHAPTER FOUR: Will She Understand?**

Cornelius Fudge strode into the empty Hogwarts dungeon where Lucius Malfoy was being held. He had to be taken to Azkaban for performing an Unforgivable Curse on a Hogwarts student. Fudge opened his mouth as if to speak, but Lucius cut him off.

            "I am Lucius Malfoy, not any ordinary mudblood half-wit, and I refuse to be put into prison!" he roared at the Minister of Magic. 

            "I have no choice but to incarcerate you, Mr. Malfoy. It is because of your own actions that you are to be sent to Azkaban." Fudge calmly replied, somehow with a cheery look on his face despite the gloom of the situation. He pulled out his wand to bind Malfoy's wrists together and prepare him for the journey. Lucius jumped forward and slapped his wrist hard, causing the wand to fly across the room and land with a clank in the corner. 

            "You—you can't make me go there. You know how miserable it is. I will pay you! You can have ½ of the entire Malfoy fortune if you just let me go!!! I can't do it… My only son is—he's dead! And being held in Azkaban for the rest of my life will drive me totally mad!!! Please, Cornelius." Malfoy pleaded, breaking down into tears. He was on his knees at the feet of the Minister of Magic, begging for mercy that he knew he would not receive. 

            "I'm sorry, Lucius, but it's my duty to put you away for what you did. You not only performed one of the Unforgivable Curses, but you performed it on an innocent student. But, I think I may be able to cut you a deal with some of the dementors there. No guarantees, though. And the price is 25,000 Galleons." Fudge said, adding the last part in a whisper after checking to see that nobody was around.

            "Anything you want, sir," Malfoy said, wiping tears childishly from his face with the back of his sleeve. He crawled over to the corner where Fudge's wand had landed, picked it up, wiped the dust from it with a corner of his robes, and stood to return it to its owner. Cornelius Fudge did not seem to notice the appalling change in Malfoy's behavior.

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            Lucius carefully stepped off the broomstick that Fudge had given him (enchanted to make sure Lucius made it to Azkaban). Fudge had landed a bit before him, and was standing nearby with his broom. There was a noticeably large moneybag on the ground next to him. Just outside the gates of the great Wizard prison Azkaban, he summoned the dementors. 

            After a few minutes of something that was supposed to resemble conversation with three of the dementors, Fudge walked back over to where Malfoy stood. "You're lucky. They're willing to make the deal. But you must not let anybody know that you're getting special treatment from them, do you understand?" he said to Malfoy in a hushed voice.

            Lucius replied, "Thank you so much Cornelius. I promise nobody'll ever suspect a thing." He paused, and added, "Please make sure that Draco has, well, has a proper burial and all that jazz, take as much money as you need. And, I never thought I'd admit this, but I trust that Dumbledore will see that it's taken care of, so make sure he knows of my requests." Tears were, once again, clouding over his vision.

            "Dumbledore? Well, I guess… Whatever you say, Lucius. It shall be done," Cornelius said, a bit puzzled, "and I guess this is farewell." Fudge shifted impatiently where he stood, and a tear somehow managed to squeeze out the corner of Lucius's eye and find its way to his newly unshaven chin.

            "Err, farewell, Cornelius." He said. Under his breath, he added a few more words. "Farewell, Draco, my son." He put his hands to his heart as if to steady it or rip it out, unable to decide between the two.

            After a brief pause, The Minister of Magic turned the teary-eyed Lucius Malfoy over to the Azkaban dementors, and watched as they took him away. Then, he attached the moneybag to the extra broom by a sling, newly enchanted it to follow him, and mounted his own broom. Kicking off from the ground, he took off into the stormy sky, never stopping to look back. 

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Poppy Pomfrey returned from Professor Snape's office carrying a phial of antidote. Personally, she was in no hurry to return Malfoy back to his original state because of how quiet and peaceful the Hospital Wing had been lately, but her more sensible side overcame this. 

            The matron stood over Draco's bed with the oddly shaped phial, popped the cork off, and slowly poured the antidote down the seemingly dead boy's throat. He made a kind of gurgling, yawning noise, and slowly regained consciousness. Madam Pomfrey let out the breath she had been holding like a small sigh of relief.

            She noted that Adria was still sleeping peacefully in her bunk. Pomfrey had given her a Draught to let her sleep while the potions for the soreness of her body (from Lucius Malfoy's cursing her) took effect. She had no idea what pain Adria had been through, but had sense enough to know that a good numbing sleep would help.

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            Draco sat up in his bed, stretched as if he'd just awoken, and then turned to look over to Adria. "Madam Pomfrey?" he beckoned the matron. She half-ran into the room, all of a fluster, and, realising everything was all right, shook her head at Malfoy. 

            "What is it, dear?" she asked, trying to be polite even though she'd just run there for no reason. 

            "Erm, is Adria alright? Why haven't you given her the antidote?" Draco asked, puzzled. He, of course, had no idea as to what went on previously.

            "Don't you—No, of course you don't remember. Well, I think I may want Albus—Professor Dumbledore to explain it all to you, but she's just taking a much-needed rest. I'll make sure that Dumbledore knows you're awake," she explained soothingly. She bid him to lie back down and rest for a bit, and set off to visit the Headmaster. 

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            "Albus, young Malfoy has regained consciousness, and wishes to hear about the recent happenings. I thought it best that you speak to him…." Madam Pomfrey began to Dumbledore. He turned to her and raised a slivery-white eyebrow.

            "Is he in proper shape right now?" he asked the matron. 

            "Well, I think he needs a bite to eat and maybe a bit more rest, but, other than that, he's doing quite well," Pomfrey explained to him cheerily. She absent-mindedly fiddled with a loose thread on her apron.

            "See to it that he is fed well, and I will come speak to him in a bit, more or less. That is, if you see it fit, Poppy?" Professor Dumbledore told her quietly. She nodded. He gave her a smile and gestured toward the door. She gave another small nod of approval, and left the office.

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            Draco Malfoy sat up in his bed to eat the warm meal Madam Pomfrey had brought for him. It wasn't until right then, with his fork halfway between his plate and face, that he noticed how hungry he was. He finished all of it quickly, drained his goblet of pumpkin juice, and placed the empty tray on the bedside table. Thoughtfully, he looked over to Adria's calm, peacefully sleeping face. '_Why won't she tell me what's happened to Adria?' _He wondered. Unfortunately, the warm meal took a toll on him, and he was soon very sleepy. After lying in thought for a few minutes, he fell into a deep, restful sleep. 

            Draco woke two hours later, and realised that Professor Dumbledore was sitting in a chair next to his bed, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling tiles. Soon, Dumbledore noticed that Draco had been staring at him, and looked down to him.

            "How are you feeling, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked the tired-looking boy.

            "I'm still a tad sleepy, but I'd rather know what's going on than sleep more," Draco replied, jolting out of his state of exhaustion. He sat up in his bed and looked the Headmaster straight in the eye, waiting for answers. After a few seconds of this silence, Professor Dumbledore began.

            "As you know, your father arrived here, against my orders, with intentions to harm another Hogwarts student…." He started.

            "Adria," Draco cut him off, with peculiar emptiness in his voice and eyes.

            "Yes, we had suspected he wanted to hurt Adria, and possibly you, so we knew proper actions and precautions had to be taken. We saw no other way than to give both of you the Draught of Living Death, because even though it was dangerous, it seemed to be the plan that would work best. I called Madam Pomfrey to give you the potions as soon as your father arrived. Thanks to Professor Snape, the Draughts worked very well, and the both of you appeared stone dead. He arrived, and appeared slightly heartbroken at the sight of you, but halfway between grievings, he turned on Miss Aenigma, as we thought he would." Dumbledore explained.

            "Well, what did he do to Adria? And where is he?" Draco asked hurriedly. Dumbledore noted the look of concern that appeared with the former question, and the way it wiped away with the latter.

            "I guess it's best that you know. Your father performed an Unforgivable Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, on dear Adria, and has been sent away to Azkaban for it," Professor Dumbledore inclined his head in sympathy. Draco sat there frozen in time, but snapped back again.

            "The--the… unimaginable pain, on my poor Adria? How could he? I—I'll kill the man, I will! My poor Adria, are you alright?" he yelled, rushing over to Adria's bed. Dumbledore noticed the tears that were forming in Draco's eyes, and how he did not brush them away as was characteristic of him.

            Draco, in fear, took Adria by the shoulders and shook her violently, trying to wake her up. After a bit of this, her eyes opened, and there was a confused look on her face. "What… what is it, Draco?" she asked, half asleep. 

            "Just tell me that you're alright. Father's gone now. I can take care of you now, but just tell me that you're alright. I can't—the Cruciatus Curse—are you okay?" Draco sputtered worriedly. Adria yawned, and then spoke.

            "I think I'm okay, although I'm really sore from all that… Yes, I'm fine. I am so glad to see you awake…" Adria said, trying to massage the back of her neck with her hand. Draco threw his arms around her, totally unaware that Professor Dumbledore was still standing there. She suddenly was washed over with a look of concern and sympathy. "Draco, your father, they've—they've taken him away… to Azkaban…" Adria began; anticipating his response, which she thought would be desolate.

            "I know," Draco responded, "It's a bit nice, isn't it?" He stared off to space for a moment, with a look of cheerful content on his face. With this, Professor Dumbledore slipped away in the background. Adria was only slightly taken aback by Draco's comment, but did not blame him. She actually felt sympathy for him, having spent all the years of his life living with that horrid man.

            "Well, I guess if you are happy with it…." Adria trailed off. Finally, both of them were feeling rested, and almost ready to return to classes, of course, after the holiday. They still had a good two weeks until classes resumed, and Madam Pomfrey was sure to release them soon.

            The following morning, Draco and Adria were both obviously feeling well. They played wizard chess, talked by the window, and walked around the Hospital Wing numerous times, never calling for Madam Pomfrey, except occasionally stopping to ask her when they'd be free to go. Each time, they were given no answer. 

            They were sitting on a bed playing wizard chess together a while before dinner, when Madam Pomfrey came to speak with them. She smiled sweetly as she spoke, "I've decided that the both of you are well enough to leave." Adria opened her mouth to begin thanking her, but Pomfrey cut her off. "But, if either of you feel even the least bit weak or just plain odd, you will notify me at once, correct?" it was more of a demand than a question. 

            "Of course," Draco said, but Adria just nodded her head calmly. On the chessboard, Draco's knight continued to struggle with Adria's queen, but appeared to be losing.

            "Well, then, you are free to go." Madam Pomfrey stated primly. Adria gave her a warm smile as thanks. Both of them gathered their things and took them back to the dungeons, returning with just enough time to make it to the Great Hall for dinner.

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            Draco and Adria sat together on a couch in the Slytherin Common Room, close to the fire that roared, warm and luminous, in the hearth. Draco remembered that in a time and place like this, they would normally be snogging, but since the recent happenings, he had a different perspective on his relationship with Adria. He knew inside that Adria felt the same way about him. They had suffered greatly together, a kind of price for denying the real meaning of love, but all the same, coming to find it. 

            Draco continued to sit, thinking about what he should do or say to Adria. He came to the realisation at that exact moment that what he shared with Adria was real love. It was not the same as anything he'd ever experienced. Draco knew it was right for him to give up on all else and risk everything for their love. _'It just doesn't matter anymore. Neither does Pansy. Both of them combined don't have what sweet Adria has. It's not just snogging by the fire anymore. This is love. I can't continue like this. If the truth has to come out anyway, it might as well be through me,'_ Draco thought, wrinkling his forehead. _'But what will it do to her? How can I say it? Will she understand?' _


End file.
